Virat Kohli
always wants to be in the thick of things when it comes to action on the cricket field, and Thursday was no different. First he played a sensational innings and then produced a 'Superman' moment on the field with a run-out off a direct hit in Royal Challengers Bengaluru's (RCB) big win over Punjab Kings at the HPCA Stadium in
Dharamsala
.
IPL 2024 STANDINGS:Points Table | Orange Cap | Purple Cap
Coming out to bat in his customary opening position for RCB, Kohli's bat sparkled to produced 92 runs off just 47 balls, including 6 sixes and 7 fours, which powered RCB to a mammoth 241 for 7, as Rajat Patidar (55 off 23 balls) and Cameron Green (46 off 27 balls) kept the momentum in the middle overs and towards the end.
Kohli, however, had a lucky day on the crease as he was dropped twice -- on 0 and 10.
Orange Cap-holder Kohli now has 634 runs in 12 innings, becoming only the second batsman after KL Rahul to score 600-plus runs in four IPL seasons.
For Punjab, Harshal Patel led the bowling charts with his spell of 3/38, which also earned him the Purple Cap. His tally of wickets now tops the charts with 20 wickets in 12 innings.
Punjab's run-chase folded up in 17 overs at 181 all out despite Rilee Rossouw's commendable knock of 61 off just 27 balls.
The chase also saw a moment of brilliance in the field by Kohli when he ran out
Shashank Singh
, who scored a pacy 37 off just 19 balls.
The delivery after Shashank's nasty collision with RCB skipper Faf du Plessis in the 14th over, the Punjab batsman played Lockie Ferguson towards the leg-side and tried to steal a second run as Kohli ran in from deep mid-wicket, picked up the ball one-handed and threw the stumps down in the same motion with a direct hit to celebrate straight away.
The third-umpire found Shashank's bat short of the popping crase on replay and declared the batsman out.
It was RCB's fourth straight win and fifth in total, which took them to 10 points and kept their faint playoff hopes alive.
English (US) ·